Abstract

windward approaches to the Caribbean, in the 17th century Barbados was the largest port in the Western hemisphere. By the end of the 19th century there were still some 1 500 vessels a year calling at Bridgetown. The estuarine mouth of the Constitution River, which enters the sea at Bridgetown, became a centre of ship repair and is still known as the ''Careenage'' - the place where ships were careened, i.e. beached and laid over for scraping, painting and repair.